Primeau & Grose: Behind the Scenes

Most comedians and those in the comedy industry work nights. There's not a whole lot of reasons for any of us to get before noon which, in many ways, is one of the big advantages to being an entertainer. Even when Carole and I owned a club the earliest we had to open the doors was noon and we sometimes did that a little late. Almost every meeting I've had with my agent was before or after a show and usually involved drinking. The Afternoon News was a perfect fit for me because 3 p.m. is a realistic time for me to be anywhere. Then came the comedy festival.

While all meetings of the board happen after 9 p.m. not everyone embraces our love of sleeping. First it was lunch meetings with sponsors that caused me to actually set an alarm. That soon became late morning meetings with venues and now... the dreaded 9:30 a.m. meeting. When your title sponsor says they want to "Go over a few things" the only acceptable answer is "We look forward to it" but does it seriously have to be at 9:30 in the morning? I'm happy to go over every detail of the Comedy Festival but ask me my middle name before 10 and I'll have to turn to Graham or Carole and say "I believe you have that information."

If I happen to get up early to drive my kids to school I completely avoid answering e-mails. I read my responses later and have to wonder what the heck I was trying to say. Shove a phone in my face before 10 and all you'll get is "I don't want to go to school." I could be a finalist on Jeopardy if they taped the show after midnight but before noon I'm definitely not smarter than a 5th grader. I've tried downing 2 extra large coffees to jump start my brain but all that does is send me to the boys room 10 minutes into the meeting. Case in point. I've had 3 meetings at ATB Financial and still have to ask where the washroom is.

This morning ATB Financial found a way to wake me up caffeine free when the new comedy festival mascots busted into the meeting. Not only am I awake now... I may not be able to sleep tonight.